Tactical and Enterprise Modes of Operation
Instant Connect offers two primary modes of operation: Enterprise and Tactical.
In Enterprise-mode, the system’s configuration (user identities, channels, etc) are managed by a centralized server.In Tactical-mode, users share channel configurations (aka Missions) through a QR code or a .ice file.While these are often described as 'modes,' the term is misleading. Tactical and Enterprise interoperate together seamlessly in both ICE Desktop and ICE Mobile applications. A user can be logged into an ICE Server and also communicate on a tactical channel that was shared with them via email, for example. In both operating models, the same ICE media engine in used to transport audio between users. The primary difference is how configuration and presence data is distributed across teams.
The table below describes high level features :
Feature | Enterprise | Tactical |
Centralized management and control of channel access | Supported | Not supported |
Export and distribute channel configurations via file/QR code | Not supported | Supported |
PTT over IGMP multicast | Supported | Supported |
PTT over SSL using Rallypoints | Supported | Supported, but requires deployment of a Rallypoint component reachable on the network by tactical clients. |
End-to-End PTT encryption | Supported | Supported |
User online/offline presence | Supported | Supported within the context of a Mission (i.e., can tell if a user is participating in a shared Mission, can’t determine if the user is 'online' in a different Mission) |
User location | Supported | Supported |
Private telephone call between ICE users | Supported | Not supported |
Public telephone call to PSTN via ICE Telephony | Supported | Not supported |
Telephone dial-in to channel | Supported | Not supported |
A Tactical user has no login credential (since there is no server to log into) but can establish their own display name. There is no concept of privileges or 'administrator' access in tactical mode since there is no centralized point of enforcement. Any user has the ability to create and modify channels which they can freely share with others. To prevent unauthorized users from eavesdropping on a channel, the creator of the tactical channel may assign an encryption key to the channel. Only users with whom the channel configuration has been shared will have the key necessary to decrypt audio transmitted on it.